Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

The threat of virus-carrying mosquitoes hitching a ride on exported goods prompts Chinese officials to demand that U.S. take decontamination steps. And state officials urge residents who traveled to infected areas to use bug spray.

LA Daily News:
China’s Fear Of Zika Has U.S. Exporters, Shippers Scrambling
Fears of the Zika virus aren’t just unnerving tourists in Miami or scaring off some athletes from competing in Rio. They’re giving Southern California farmers, manufacturers and others exporting goods to China a major headache. Worried that almonds, livestock feed and other products shipped to Asia could be hiding virus-carrying Aedes mosquitoes, mainland Chinese officials are demanding U.S. exporters certify that all cargo is free of the pest. (Uranga, 8/20)

East County Magazine:
Traveled To An Area With Zika? Use Bugspray After Coming Home
California health officials are warning travelers coming home from Zika-infected places to use insect repellant and practice safe sex for several weeks after coming home—even if you’ve had no symptoms of the virus. Here’s why. The mosquitoes that can transmit Zika are found in San Diego and other parts of our state. So far, the local mosquitoes haven’t been found to carry the Zika virus. But if a local mosquito bites a recent traveler with Zika virus in their blood and then bites other people, the virus can spread, causing outbreak here. Zika virus can also be transmitted via sex for up to six months. (Raftery, 8/21)

Riverside The Press Enterprise:
State Health Official Urge Zika Precautions
California health officials on Friday urged travelers returning home from countries where Zika is spreading to continue to wear insect repellent and to practice safe sex for several more weeks, to help prevent the spread of the virus in the Golden State. While Zika is spread primarily through the bite of the black and white striped Aedes mosquito, the virus also can be passed through sex, health officials said. (Abram, 8/19)

In Zika news from other parts of the country —

Morning Consult:
McConnell: HHS Should Use Funds for ACA Advertising for Zika
The top Senate Republican is urging the Obama administration to use any funding it is planning to use to increase enrollment in the Affordable Care Act exchanges to respond to the Zika virus. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) wrote to Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell on Friday, seeking details on reports of an advertising campaign for the federal health insurance exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act. Any funding the department has for such a campaign should instead go toward the Zika virus, McConnell said. (McIntire, 8/19)

The New York Times:
The Beat, And The Bug Spray, Go On In South Beach Despite Zika Threat
As local government and tourism officials emphasized that the safety of residents, workers and guests came first, it was hard to sidestep the obvious: Would tourists stay away from the island’s alluring beaches, hip hotels and just-about-anything-goes clubs? And if they did, what would it mean for the economy of Miami Beach — the superstar of the county’s $36 billion tourism industry? (Alvarez and Madigan, 8/20)